The airfield at Gannavaram served as an army base during World War II, after which it was converted into a civilian airport. Passenger operations remained limited for decades. Air Deccan introduced a daily service between Hyderabad and Vijayawada in September 2003. Until 2011, the airport accommodated only four flights a day, operated primarily by Kingfisher Airlines. To cater to increasing passenger traffic, the foundation stone for a new interim terminal building was laid in October 2015. The terminal, designed to handle two million passengers per annum, was inaugurated on 12 January 2017. Following the shift of domestic operations to the interim terminal, the old airport terminal building was closed, refurbished, and equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle international services. The Central Government officially granted international status to the airport on 3 May 2017. After the state government offered viability gap funding (VGF) to airlines, private operator IndiGo secured the contract to operate international routes. On 4 December 2018, an IndiGo flight departed for Singapore Changi Airport, marking the inaugural international flight from Vijayawada.